Picnic in the park

 

The weather in the UK this weekend was gorgeous! This is very unusual for our little island, so when the sun shines we all get very excited. When I woke up, the view from the window looked like this:

 After lazing around drinking iced tea in the morning, we spent a lovely afternoon having a picnic in the park.We got a picnic set about 2 years ago and this was its first outing, which was very exciting!

We went to Quarrybank Mill, which has a gorgeous meadow with huge trees for shade. I lay in the grass, drawing and reading all afternoon - it was heavenly and made me wish I could do it everyday. When we got restless we wandered around the old mill which has some great exhibits, including a demonstration of a spinning wheel.

 

While we were strolling I saw this tree with beautiful blossoms. I adore the colours and wish I could replicate this in one of my accessory designs!

Basket Case Cowl Pattern

Here's a little cowl I whipped up this week for my stepmum. She saw the yarn at my house and asked me to make her something, so I used my limited knitting skills to put this cowl together!


Basket Case Cowl
This pattern uses a simple basketweave pattern, surrounded by a garter stitch border. The cowl is knit flat and sewed up after blocking.

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease (20% wool, 80% acrylic)
Needles: 5mm
Gauge: Not important for this pattern

Pattern

CO 50 sts using long-tail cast on.

Rows 1-5: Knit

Basketweave section:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K5, *K6, P4*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5
Row 3: K5, *K4, P6*, rep between * and * to 8 sts before end, yo, P2tog, K5
Row 4: K5, *K6, P4*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5
Row 5: K5, *K4, P6*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5
Row 6: K5, *K6, P4*, rep between * and *  to 5 sts before end, K5
Row 7: Knit
Rows 8, 10 & 12: K5, *P4, K6*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5
Rows 9 & 11: K5, *P6, K4*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5
Rep these 12 rows 7 times.
On last row of basketweave pattern: K5, P2, YO, P2tog, K6, *P4, K6*, rep between * and * to 5 sts before end, K5

Next 5 rows: Knit
BO and weave in ends, steam block flat.
Sew on buttons, then sew cowl ends together from top of bottom garter stitch border to where corners begin to fold.

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Thanks to Knitting on the Net for the easy-to-understand description of the basketweave stitch pattern.

7 Craft Blogs I Love

I spend much of my time perusing crafty blogs on the Internet (or "researching for my Etsy shop" as I like to call it). There are so many fantastic sites out there, both for showcasing handmade items and for advice on turning your crafty talents into a viable business.

Here's a selection of my favourites.

Crafty
Sweet Sweet Life
The visuals on Amy's blog are amazing! I don't know how she manages to take such consistently great photos but it's certainly impressive. I also love reading the insights into stylish homes, what an inspiration!

Sew Weekly
This blog is written by Mena, who has decided to sew an outfit a week - completely from scratch! The photos and stories behind the outfits are so interesting. Sew Weekly has inspired me to start polishing my sewing skills - watch this space!

What the Craft
A great mix of tutorials and advice, WTC has a fab, colourful design and interesting content. If you're suffering from an inspirational dead-end, it's the place to visit!

Under the Rainbow
Nina's adventures are so great to read. Her sewing projects are amazing and cool, and her children are adorable! Her posts always cheer me up.

Business

The following sites provide invaluable advice on how to conquer the world with your craft. There are practical tips, colourful photos and reeeeally nice people running the show - what more could you want?

• Meylah
• Handmade Marketer
• A Fine Tooth Comb 

Please feel free to post your favourite craft blogs!